A conventional basketball goal assembly includes a backboard to which an annular rim and net are mounted. The backboard is typically held above the ground by a pole embedded in the ground, or hung from a ceiling or wall when used indoors. When a basketball passes through the rim and net of the goal assembly, the basketball frequently bounces away from the shooter. To shoot again, the shooter must retrieve the ball from whatever location to which it has moved. Thus, it is difficult for the shooter to repetitively practice from the same shooting point.
Various prior art ball return devices have addressed this problem. U.S. Pat. No. 3,233,896 issued to King on Feb. 8, 1966 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,550 issued to McNabb on Dec. 4, 1973, for example, provide a chute which extends in a path from a location generally at the basketball rim back to the shooter. U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,421 issued to Spier, Jr. on Jun. 4, 1974, likewise discloses a chute which is somewhat shorter than the McNabb and King devices. Such prior art devices are cumbersome, complicated, expensive, and not easily disassembled.
Other prior art ball return devices such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,543 issued to Steele, Jr. on Mar. 26, 1974 incorporate a suspendable deflector which is detachably mounted on the rim via a series of magnets. Such devices are relatively expensive, however, and have a limited ability to maintain the deflector in position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,052 issued to Zinger on Nov. 22, 1988 discloses a one-piece basketball return device which is bolted between the backboard and the rim. Because the return device is bolted in place, its removal from the basketball goal assembly is time consuming and inconvenient.